Calls for Vancouver Police to stop undermining public health in the DTES

Calls for Vancouver Police to stop undermining public health in the DTES

The Vancouver Police Department (VPD)’s response to COVID-19 has been unacceptable. Over-policing the Downtown Eastside (DTES) during a pandemic is inconsistent not only with Charter and human rights, but also prevailing public health advisories. At a time when DTES residents are particularly vulnerable in terms of their health, safety, and economic condition, VPD are doubling down on the criminal law at direct cost to the DTES and the community at large.

We are calling on the VPD to do the following:

1. Cease over-policing people who use drugs

2. Minimize policing of informal economies

3. Cease over-policing of unsheltered people

4. Minimize contact with the criminal justice system

We implore the VPD to undertake evidence-based responses to public health crises and cease enforcement activities that jeopardize access to health, safety, and dignity.

Pivot Legal Society is located on stolen lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples. We are grateful to Indigenous Peoples for their continuous relationship with their lands and are committed to learning to work in solidarity as accomplices in shifting the colonial default.